Got a few questions about builders help. In my local area I joined the local EAA chapter looking for tips on building. The reception to a "new" guy into the group here has been less than enthusiastic to say the least. We even helped out with cleaning up the hangar setting up for dinners and the Christmas party last year, and doing some other volunteer stuff. We've been going on and off for over a year and have suggested on a couple of occasions that maybe there should be some builders workshops. They haven't done any in two years. The new chapter newsletter just came out, and this was printed in it. All punctuation (or lack of it) is theirs, not mine.
TONY TINBINDER says...... by (author witheld)
So you have decided to build a metal airplane? Well do you have any idea what you are getting your self into? Do you realize that you have to build a metal airplane at least twice. Yeah, talk to the old hands and they will agree. Even the ones that love working with metal. If you are starting from scratch or building a precut kit the process involves everything you have to do to start fitting the parts together, then when you have them all drilled and fitted together they have to come apart for things like deburring, priming, and maybe even dimpling before you are ready to fit it all back together and try setting a few rivets.
Having been most of the way through this building adventure the best advice I can give you is try to find someone who has a project under way and see if they will let you give them a hand. Do what-ever you have to do to win the right to at least be an observer. Try to take up the learning posture, your mouth shut, your eyes and ears open. Some times the building process can be rather stressful and your vocabulary may be expanded, but if you keep quiet you will probably be allowed to hang around. If nothing else you will learn from the mistakes of others.
(end article)
First a little more background. I'm the only "new" builder in the chapter currently starting a metal plane. There are others building, but just about all of them are long term "on hold" projects. I'm the only one that has brought up the possibility of maybe having workshops to address building tecniques including fabric, metal, wood and fiberglass throughout the year. So, as a result I may be taking this a bit personally.
How would those on this forum take the last paragraph in the article? I've got no problem with lending someone a hand with their project to learn something. My main issue is with the "do whatever you have to do to win the right to be an observer" and the "if you keep quiet, you will probably be allowed to hang around" thing.
Win the right to be an observer? Keep quiet to be "allowed" to be around? Is this the attitude that I can expect from other EAA chapters? This short article pretty well sums up how the people in the local chapter have acted around us. By us I mean the wife and I, as well as several other builders that I've met that have been totally turned off by their own reception. It's pretty much the attitude that "you ain't from around here, are ya boy?".
At this point I'm 40 years old and have been fabricating things all my life. I feel that I definately have something to contribute and have been given the cold shoulder by most of the people in the chapter. Is this normal? If so, I'll build my own plane and bid a fare thee well to the EAA. If not, does anyone have a good suggestion? There is another chapter about a 50 minute drive from here that I have yet to attend. I don't know what they're like yet. I'm probably going there next month instead of to the local chapter out of curiosity. Has anyone else had this experience?
TONY TINBINDER says...... by (author witheld)
So you have decided to build a metal airplane? Well do you have any idea what you are getting your self into? Do you realize that you have to build a metal airplane at least twice. Yeah, talk to the old hands and they will agree. Even the ones that love working with metal. If you are starting from scratch or building a precut kit the process involves everything you have to do to start fitting the parts together, then when you have them all drilled and fitted together they have to come apart for things like deburring, priming, and maybe even dimpling before you are ready to fit it all back together and try setting a few rivets.
Having been most of the way through this building adventure the best advice I can give you is try to find someone who has a project under way and see if they will let you give them a hand. Do what-ever you have to do to win the right to at least be an observer. Try to take up the learning posture, your mouth shut, your eyes and ears open. Some times the building process can be rather stressful and your vocabulary may be expanded, but if you keep quiet you will probably be allowed to hang around. If nothing else you will learn from the mistakes of others.
(end article)
First a little more background. I'm the only "new" builder in the chapter currently starting a metal plane. There are others building, but just about all of them are long term "on hold" projects. I'm the only one that has brought up the possibility of maybe having workshops to address building tecniques including fabric, metal, wood and fiberglass throughout the year. So, as a result I may be taking this a bit personally.
How would those on this forum take the last paragraph in the article? I've got no problem with lending someone a hand with their project to learn something. My main issue is with the "do whatever you have to do to win the right to be an observer" and the "if you keep quiet, you will probably be allowed to hang around" thing.
Win the right to be an observer? Keep quiet to be "allowed" to be around? Is this the attitude that I can expect from other EAA chapters? This short article pretty well sums up how the people in the local chapter have acted around us. By us I mean the wife and I, as well as several other builders that I've met that have been totally turned off by their own reception. It's pretty much the attitude that "you ain't from around here, are ya boy?".
At this point I'm 40 years old and have been fabricating things all my life. I feel that I definately have something to contribute and have been given the cold shoulder by most of the people in the chapter. Is this normal? If so, I'll build my own plane and bid a fare thee well to the EAA. If not, does anyone have a good suggestion? There is another chapter about a 50 minute drive from here that I have yet to attend. I don't know what they're like yet. I'm probably going there next month instead of to the local chapter out of curiosity. Has anyone else had this experience?